“Bakhchisaray fountain”, Karl Pavlovich Brullov – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Karl Pavlovich Brullov
- Museum: Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin
- Year: 1849
Overview of the painting :
Bakhchisaray fountain – Karl Pavlovich Brullov. Oil on canvas. 86.5 x 76 cm
For almost 11 years, the famous painter Karl Pavlovich Brullov went to his masterpiece. In memory of the death of his friend A. WITH. Pushkin, he began to write in 1838 one of his most famous works on the poem of a classic about the Bakhchisarai Fountain.
In 1849, this work was created, and it was immediately acquired by Princess Maria Nikolaevna, daughter of Emperor Nicholas I .
Of course, the plot is taken from the poem of Pushkin, but the artist opens before the viewer not the passions and intrigues of the eastern harem, but the moment of rest and unpretentious entertainment.
In a rich and luxurious setting of the Khan’s Palace, young girls serenely enjoy life, gathering near the fountain. The fact that these slaves are reminiscent of only servants spreading dishes, and the old eunuch, seated on the carpet in the left corner of the canvas.
All the beauties in magnificent dresses from light silk and a brilliant atlas. Bright colors, the brilliance of gilded threads in luxurious belts, chalmas and cloaks. Silver dishes, soft carpets, crystal gleaning from the water, funny fish in the fountain – everything speaks of a quiet, calm, idyllic pastime of young girls.
The sad Maria does not fit into general entertainment and fun modestly sitting in the opening of the window. Her head bowed, her hands clumsyly lay on her knees. She is not interested in the society of the rest. Also under the tree is another heroine – Zarema with a dagger on her belt. She throws a furious look towards her rival, the Slavic slave.
The painter is interested in the theme of the exotic and unusual traditions of the east. Therefore, perhaps, he was attracted in the poem by the leitmotif of the daily life of the female half, bliss and pleasures, languid nega, which are simply “various” throughout the canvas.
Poem Pushkin and the painting of the painter Brullov are an example of a magnificent tandem of two Russian creators.